Starring role to....?

Friday December 1

Yesterday's wintry showers of sleet and hail did not sparkle the landscape here. The fallen leaves became wetter and their drifts larger, swirled into hidden places by the fierce wind gusts. To-day started off sunny. Students of Norfolk's vast skies would have enjoyed the kaleidoscope of blue sky, white cumulus and thickly grey,  snow and rain full clouds,  which marked our day out.

Not expecting much in the way of quantity nor quality - all our birding is done from the car due to my lack of mobility - we had a lovely day. A flock of Curlew dotting the stubble along the back lane to Abbey Farm. At Abbey, a pair of Bullfinches lighting up the bushes around the dried pond and a Red Kite surveying the far field before swooping down and startling the Starlings into flight. It looked like it was having fun.

Starring role to-day was at least five thousand Starlings on the pig fields seen from the Flitcham/Sandringham road. Five hundred Large Whites, Saddlebacks and patched pigs took no notice at all of their very noisy neighbours. (Did I just liken Man City to pigs there ? ) I'd love to see this mob go to roost - if it was a single one. The geometry of their murmuration would be magnificent.

As it is, the sight of so many on the ground amongst the feeding pigs is unsurpassed, by me anyway. Those animals at the feeding stations had rows of ignored Starlings on their backs. 

I only had my 300 mm lens so, the depth of field during an overcast and dark weather segment is pretty appalling. The photos only show a very small area of the fields.

Tide at Snettisham was on its way back in, with about four hours to go. So many Grey Plovers, a few Redshank, Dunlin, Turnstone and Ringed Plover feeding avidly on the mud. At least 30 Pintail could be scoped but not the sure identity of the hordes of birds that deckled the far shore. Many were Knot .... what else though?

No sign of the Great White Egret we saw on our last visit. A few Goldeneye and a winter influx of Wigeon on the reserve pits. Am I pleased to see 40+ Canada Geese gliding gracefully along? The sight yes, they're handsome geese, not their presence though. They've begun to colonise Mull, .Arthur Brown calls them White-tailed Eagle meals. He also calls Meadow Pipits the plankton of the bird world.

Thornham's creeks were fast filling with the inrushing tide. After seeing the flock of Twite from the car park, we quickly drove on to Brancaster Staithe for a late picnic lunch. No Long-tailed Duck to-day, a few Black-tailed Godwits, the odd Bar-tailed, more Grey Plover. The highlight was a lone Greenshank in the dim of approaching twilight.

So dark now at 2.30, Pam hurtled - as much as the road will allow - to Stiffkey Marsh car park. Just enough light to see a female Marsh Harrier and a ring-tailed Hen Harrier go to roost, dropping into the suaeda along the shoreline.

Hoping for an owl, we took the coast road home. No luck. 70 species, not bad.

Norfolk Year Tick

Sunday November 19

Not an early start on a beautiful, crisp, cold and sunny winter morning. The trees are now half dressed but, still have enough leaves to colour the view.

We drive straight to Thornham Harbour to find it packed with the vehicles and walking crowds of weekend visitors. Hoorahs in the main. The Lfeboat is a very popular restaurant, pub and B and B. Avoiding all the dogs is a chore too. Despite that, I love the place. Pam checked the far channels, I did the near ones. The tide was rushing out, not much water and few birds. No sign of the wintering Twite. 

The other destination was Brancaster Staithe, also full of parked cars, a knot of photographers near the water's edge heralding that the bird was still there. Yes, the Long Tailed Duck showed well if distantly until it decided to steam steadily upstream past the poised cameras. I took a few shots, none near eniugh. Serves me right for my obstinacy against joining the mob. John Miller has posted some lovely shots on FB.

Little Egrets are always good for a photo, especially in good light.

We added a Rock Pipit, which landed on a nearby boat, before leaving for home. It flew before I could reach for my camera.

Pot Pourri

Friday November 17

This week's Wildlife Highlights

Red-throated Diver, numerous Auks, Gannets and Brent Geese at Winterton. Large Diver flying south before ditching - too far out for certainty but probably the White-billed. One Bonxie trying - and failing - to start an intervention with a Gannet.

Great Diving Beetle Dityscus marginalis in the moth trap (thank you James).

Pearly Underwing in the moth trap - a garden tick. This is an immigrant and only the second we've seen. Earlier this year, Tony Morris' son ID'd one at Natural Surroundings. Everyone else, including Greg, had missed it.
We initially missed this one. We were potting our moths first thing before taking them to Cley. I thought it was a Dark Swordgrass, Pam was adamant that it was a Turnip. Neither of us had the time to check with the book and our group just accepted what we said. I remember now saying that it had a blonde Mohican ! So used to remembering facts I still haven't really assimilated that my memory is not what it used to be - eidetic. 
The book gives the confusion species as Turnip and Dark Swordgrass !
There is room for someone to produce a book which clumps confusion species together on the same page. I'm sure it would sell.

A pristine Grey Pine Carpet eventually opened its wings for a short time.

Driving to Felbrigg  in search of fungi and Little Owl, 2 Hawfinches from the car park. One low down and occasionally feeding on the ground, the other flighty bird, perched on the top of a large Beech.

The Black Brant on several occasions as we drive Beach Road, Iron Road and Salthouse after mothing sessions at both Natural Surroundings and Cley. No more moth traps being put out at NS but a coffee meet at 10.00 for anyone interested.

Cley should have one trap put out but no-one bothered this week. George is on holiday and Gary forgot. Fortunately, same as last week, several of us took in moths from home. We probably had more to entertain us at the Show and Tell (!!) than opening a Cley trap.

3.30 p.m. to-day

Newly back from an afternoon visit to Ludham Marshes. 
A flock of 200+ active Fieldfare with a few Redwings, kept us happy whilst scanning. A few Lapwings around and a stream of low flying Starlings throughout our stay. Eventually two Common Cranes appeared from a distant ditch, walking about amongst the weeds and reeds before disappearing again. Houdini birds. We were lucky that Pam saw something move and I scoped the low shooting blind area. One Little Egret and a Grey Heron before the exhilaration of a Peregrine sat atop a post. I came across it whilst tracking the Cranes.
Pam counted over 90 Cormorants going to roost.
Lovely sunset .
We had our first frost of the winter last night, probably another to-night. Any moths about?

Winter Moths

Wednesday November 8

Definitely winter temperatures now but we're still catching good moths. In species anyway, numbers are extremely low. One moth at Cley last Thursday and one at Natural Surroundings yesterday. We didn't go yesterday, as I have a respiratory infection for the first time in years.

Some photos of a few of the species we've trapped in November so far. The Iron Prominent is the latest County record by a long way. - and we've had two. Will take this morning's catch to Cley to-morrow so that we have something to look at !

December Moth

Grey Shoulder-knot

Iron Prominent

Red-line Quaker

Vestal - a coastal migrant

In my  October end of the month sorting of unidentified moths before filing - usually the Micro moths - I found the one below. As, if i got it right,  it's pretty rare, I sent the pic to Richard and he confirmed the identity. An Acleris Logiana which would have been a tick for everyone, even Richard. No, I hadn't retained it............Oh dear.

November Birding

Sunday November 5

It looked like summer and felt like winter to-day.  The sun shone from an almost cloud free sky, the thermometer read 3C, when we left soon after 7.30. It did cloud over by the afternoon and the temperature rose to 8C. 

No real fireworks bird-wise, yet we had a lovely day. The Grey Wagail performed at Sculthorpe Mill, plenty of Tree Sparrows at Valley Farm, Redwing and Fieldfare in satisfactory numbers. We must have seen thousands of Starlings, swooping about in their large and close-knit formation flying flocks. I'd love to know which part of Europe was their place of origin.

What a surprise - not.  The tide was at its nadir at Snettisham,  which was very low indeed as it was a spectacularly high 7.1 at 4 a.m. Thousands of waders, the wintering flocks have arrived in numbers. Beyond telescope identification. Enough variety on the expanse of deep-channelled mud stretching to infinity. We didn't manage to find any Ringed Plover nor Lapwing, we had to wait until Salthouse for the latter. Amazing. 
A few Dunlin.

Wigeon are back in large numbers everywhere, the custard stripe-heads of the males  gleaming in the sun, their whistling call piercing, over the plaintive calls of the Grey Plovers.

Wigeon

 At least 500 birds in the massed flock of Golden Plover. Another, only slightly smaller, flock in the Eye Field at Cley. A pair of Stonechats always lights up my day.
Geese are not here in any great numers yet, mild weather has kept them further north I guess.We saw a couple of skeins of Pink-feet and the Cley flock of Brent Geese which flew off as we got there.

One splendid adult Black Brant amongst them, probably the best plumaged one I've seen in Norfolk.

Pam loves Morston quay. So do I - it's the humpy entrance road I truly hate. The speed bumps are so big and frequent. I distract myself by looking for the smelly goats ( a small one has joined the old bearded wonder) and, identifying the variety of chickens scratching about.
In the late afternoon sun. 
The view of beached boats, old wooden pilings, mud with a central small meander of water, was enticing. For my camera anyway. Only a couple of shots possible before the sun went behind the clouds for a lengthy rest.

The far end of the car park is known as Redshank Bend to us. More than ever to-day. At least fifty birds wheeling restlessly from place to place, quarrelling noisily, pushing each other on from resting. Their call is the sound of the Norfolk marshes to me, I often whistle back at them - much to Pam's disgust. She doesn't like me whistling softly to her to attract her attention either - after she's ignored my calls. Sometimes I still do so. The reaction is immediate but muted, in Sainsbury's for example.
Back home in time for Chelsea/Man United match. Oh dear. I couldn't bear to watch the 1-0 home win. The wonder is that they only managed to score one goal. They were really up for it after several bad performances. We were not there at all, come back Pogma, the sooner the better.

Afternoon Birding

Friday October 27

Were we really in Scotland this time last week? 

Our first chance to bird since getting home. We drove to Winterton Beach car park, where the parking fee is now £1.50 for an hour, 50p more. We enjoyed the first hour in sunshine, watching ever present Gannets of all ages, small groups of Auks, mainly Guillemots with a few Razorbills, Common Scoter, Kittiwake, Brent Geese, one Shag and Cormorants. The green birds are Norfolk year ticks !

Greatest excitement was sighting a very large, pale, winter plumaged diver fly by. Distant and only binoc. views as I hadn't got my scope set up yet. Was it? A birder we know well by sight knocked the window behind me. After I'd peeled myself off the car roof.........In answer to his ''what have you seen'' question, I told him about the diver. He'd had a similar experience earlier in the week. He'd seen Great Northern this morning but that was in summer plumage still. At least I learned that the White-billed Diver present in the area is in winter plumage. I bet that's what it was. We see enough Great Northerns on Mull in May to notice that the '' b great diver'' I called was different.

More Pinks have arrived in the area. We had two large skeins fly over the house this morning. I don't know what they'll find to feed on, virtually no sugar beet fields around. Plenty of celery and green feed for sheep.

Moth-ing in the present warm spell is continuing to be interesting. I thought we'd missed Vestals, coastal migrants from the continent,, but we trapped our own on Tuesday. I didn't manage to photo that one, this one turned up at Cley yesterday.

We are still getting unseasonably late moths e.g Brimstones but are also seeing Red Admirals most days. 310+ (everyone got tired of counting) Large Wainscots in two marsh traps at Cley yesterday was a record. We trapped 7 overnight ourselves, a garden record.
Giles and Judy brought in a much debated Carpet sp. Richard took it home and - much to everyone's delight - pronounced it to be an Autumn Green Carpet. Local and a new one for everyone. David N brought in another goodie Small Marbled.

Also at Cley yesterday was this small and moribund Bee sp. We believe that it's a Nomada Stignata

We often find wildlife of interest, apart from Moths, in the traps. A superb Tiger Beetle in one trap at Natural Surroundings on Tuesday. 

A few more pics.

A weird Silver Y

Brindled Green

Red-line Quaker

Last Lap

Saturday October 21

Having had a disturbed night - car park shenanigans - we left before the anticipated time. Morrison's for fuel and a Telegraph for me, my favourite edition of the week. The cryptic and general knowledge crossword puzzles keep me puzzled for much of the journey. On and off reading, birding and doing word games. I am so lucky that I can occupy myself thus in the car, with only the occasional rest.

We did take in another visit to Budle Bay. Acres of bare mud again and, very distant birds, did not  keep us long.

An uneventful journey, thank goodness, punctuated by a lunch stop to buy food at Scotch Corner services, which was heaving. 

Still no sign of the forecast storm, Brian. A little wind yes, no more than expected at this time of year and, no rain.

We have a few journey punctuation marks along the way. The Angel of the North at Newcastle,  furnaces at Goole in Yorkshire, leaving the A1 at Newark and the 'Norfolk, Nelson's County' sign after crossing rhe Welland. No bird news to divert our journey to-day. I've turned my pager back to Alert for Norfolk. It was a Carrion Crow call for N Scotland, a Herring Gull for Norfolk. Much more acceptable than pips and sirens.

Home to a pile of post, comfortable chairs and a slow internet as John is next door and must be on my router much of the time. I didn't allow him access for this amount of time, just during his mother's  funeral days but, it seems churlish to tell him not to use it . Pam thinks that I should change the code.......